Search watoday:

Search in:

Brisbane's NBN 'will transform people's lives'

Ellen Lutton

Campbell Newman's shock new broadband scheme for Brisbane will “save” local businesses and “transform” people's lives, according to the locals most affected.

In July, the Sun-Herald reported that residents all over Brisbane – and mostly in the city's newest areas – were struggling to access the internet due to poor planning.

In Springfield, home to 25,000, residents survive on expensive wireless connections – if they can afford them. On Brisbane's bayside and eastern suburbs, up to 60 per cent of residents have no access to broadband and rely on connections slower than dial-up.

Last week, Brisbane turned its back on the federal Labor government's national broadband network, announcing it would go it alone and build its own network within four years.

Advertisement

The fibre optic network will be installed in the city's wastewater network and sewer pipes from next year.

It's expected that about 15,000 homes per month would receive access to the network once the rollout begins.

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, from the Liberal National Party, said he "was not prepared to wait" for the federal Labor government's network to be built in Brisbane.

David Roberts, owner of Signarama in the new Rivergate business park at Murarrie, said he was “over the moon” at the Lord Mayor's announcement last week.

“I just cannot believe it. Our prayers have been answered. Can-Do will get it done, there's no doubt about that – this bloke knows his stuff,” he said.

“The fact I could get broadband here as soon as next year instead of eight, means I'll be able to stay in business.”

Mr Roberts said his business, which relies on downloading graphics, suffered under an expensive and intermittent internet service.

Located in a near-new commercial estate in Brisbane's “premier new business precinct”, he said the lack of infrastructure and planning was “unbelieveable” – and that having to wait up to eight years for the NBN was “impossible”.

“This is the best news for Brisbane businesses. Businesses like mine will be saved from going under because they'll be able to operate properly for the first time ever.”

“I didn't see this coming. This upgrade will transform people's lives,” she said.

“There are so many people around here who want to work from home but can't because they can't get reliable access to the internet.

“For the first two years we lived here, I didn't have the internet and, as someone who works from home, I simply could not work.

“I eventually got broadband but the majority of people who live around here are still without it, living on expensive wireless plans.

“There's another 400 houses going in across the way from us which will put even more pressure on the local exchange...we can't afford to wait for eight years. If Campbell can do it before then, then that's excellent news for us.

“A broadband service just for Brisbane, as early as next year, will transform people's lives.”

The announcement is excellent news for the freshly-elected federal member for Bonner, Ross Vasta, whose constituents in the suburbs on Brisbane's affluent east are among the worst-affected in the city.

Mr Vasta said he was supportive of his Liberal colleague Campbell Newman's plan.

“The Gillard Labor Government has made little secret of the fact that internet black spots in Bonner are not a high priority for them,” he said.

“ It is a big win for Bonner residents and businesses that they could potentially have access to super-fast broadband within four years at no cost to taxpayers.

“This is all about assisting the people of Bonner to have access to super-fast broadband internet as soon as possible and in an affordable way. I welcome any initiative by Lord Mayor Campbell Newman that can deliver real results to the residents (and businesses) of Bonner.

“One of the best features of this proposal is that it is a voluntary scheme. No resident needs to opt in unless they want to. ”

NBN Co, the company charged with building Labor's NBN, said it was business as usual for it and that it would continue its national rollout.

The deal with Brisbane-based multinational i3 Asia Pacific would provide homes and businesses access to 100 megabits-per-second broadband, the same speeds the federal Labor government plans to offer on its broadband network.

i3 would act as a wholesaler, providing broadband capability to existing telecommunication retailers, such as Telstra and Optus. It would pay for the network and offer the infrastructure to internet service providers.

Brisbane's Mayor said i3 Asia Pacific was rolling out a similar scheme for the whole of Scotland and had successfully operated similar schemes in the United Kingdom since 2002.

"The NBN program has no firm timetable for a rollout across Brisbane,” he said.

"[It] has not put the needs of Brisbane on as high a priority as we would like and we didn't want local residents and businesses to be left behind in the 20th century.”

The project followed a successful trial and would come at no cost to ratepayers, the Mayor said.

- with Ben Grubb and Dan Nancarrow

16 comments so far

Great, so my rates have to pay for Newman's grandstanding? If it's voluntary, it won't ever achieve the critical mass that the NBN will. The major point of the NBN is that it _replaces_ the old Telstra copper network and it creates "structural separation". What is it about PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE that the LNP just doesn't understand?

Commenter

scot

Location

auchenflower

Date and time

October 18, 2010, 4:27AM

"...existing telecommunication retailers, such as Telstra and Optus. " provide, in many people's experience (see discussions on the Whirlpool web site for example) the most highly priced and often unreliable services. I hope Newman is going to let the smaller ISPs into the game.

However, and more important, isn't the NBN going to be able to provide gigabit broadband? Will Newman's plan do this?

Moreover, the NBN will be maintained and upgraded as necessary by a government-sponsored utility. So upgrades and maintenance are likely to happen. It will also have the commitment to service so-called "uneconomic" areas even though that part of the network is unprofitable.

I live in a not so far out (inner Brookfield) part of Brisbane's Western suburbs. Only Telstra has provided the infrastructure for ADSL2+ (SLOW ADSL2+ -- 4mbps max for me) on the estate in which I live. Other providers have deemed it uneconomic to lay cable across the small creek that almost surrounds us or to put their own DSLAMs into the Brookfield (3374) exchange.

What about your solution, Campbell? Will it service ALL of Brisbane?? Will it be maintained and upgraded in perpetuity?

I don't trust privatised utilities!

Commenter

Imagine!

Location

Brisbane

Date and time

October 18, 2010, 4:56AM

Scot, this fibre will be compatible with NBN and NBNs policy is that if it is compatible they won't build over it and lease it instead. As for "saving local business" and what not, it's just internet, get over it. The UK has had TV over copper for a decade.

Commenter

Duncan

Location

Bowen Hills

Date and time

October 18, 2010, 5:05AM

There are those suburbs which will not get it because of the incompetence of Telstra.

Commenter

Acushla

Date and time

October 18, 2010, 5:25AM

Did you actually read the article? Phrases such as "at no cost to ratepayers" and "act as a wholesaler" might be of interest to you if you're worried about the use of your rates and structural separation. The NBN is currently opt-in everywhere other than Tasmania as well, so I'm not sure how it would gather more critical mass than i3 could.

Commenter

Jason

Location

Auchenflower

Date and time

October 18, 2010, 5:43AM

As for the Campbell Newman and his statement that the NBN will save local business and transform people's lives....

Get on your bike (pun intended) and ride Newman. All we want to see is the back of you.

Commenter

Bob

Date and time

October 18, 2010, 6:33AM

> However, and more important, isn't the NBN going to be able to provide gigabit broadband? Will Newman's plan do this?

As long as it's fibre, yes. It's a matter of the laser transceivers at the nodes.

Commenter

tim-e

Location

sydney

Date and time

October 18, 2010, 6:58AM

I am not sure if I will use this service but I am always amazed at some people who are against schemes that do make sense.

I am also amazed that so many people always trust government to deliver better services than the private sector - they both have a place in our lives to deliver services.

Good luck with that perfectly maintained and upgraded NBN - will bit be like the perfectly maintained health system in Qld, the perfectly maintained Garrett insulation scheme or the perfectly maintained desal plant at the Gold Coast?

Of course goverments can deliver some services but there will always be situations where the private sector can deliver more efficiently.

Commenter

Amazed by Pessimistic People

Location

Outer Brisbane

Date and time

October 18, 2010, 7:24AM

Calm down. It's just a PRESS RELEASE. Newman has read the polls that show people love the NBN and wants something similar.

Lining up the tenders, equipment suppliers, sub-cons, schedules, etc for this will take at least two years. The politicians and companies will lie and say it will happen quicker, but it won't. Rollout will take at least 12 months. So it's 2015 before anything will be ready.

This is not simple. The line doesn't pop out of the toilet. There will be a connection box on the side of your house. To get from your sewer outlet down the back of your yard to this box usually requires extensive digging. Hopefully you don't have a pool, garage or patio in the way. This will be expensive and usually paid by the home owner.

In I3's rollout in Scotland they have abandoned the sewer method and changed to ducts, like the NBN. If the rollout ever happens, you will not buy your internet service from I3. They just provide dumb pipes and it's up to Telstra, Optus etc to link up to them and provide service and pricing to residents. That will take negotiations, time and money.

Be very sceptical about Brisbane broadband. This is a small company and a publicity hungry mayor. It's very unlikely it will happen.

Commenter

Penn Gwynne

Location

Aspley

Date and time

October 18, 2010, 8:02AM

it was interesting/alarming to see some of the large areas within cap city that cannot get broadband at all (all the fault of Telstra along with inadequate Council (not just Brisbane) control over infrastructure quality & standards.

(something the Coalition simply ignore)

and i wonder if NBN could/will make the same use of drains etc in other cap cities or indeed major regionals?

and is the NBN able to lease-back the Brisbane fibre network as suggested? must be a good thing if they do/can.

the major prob i see with Brisbane's scheme is what control, if any, do they have over the selling price over time, and the adequate maintenance of infrastucture. have they guaranteed the private equity provider a cedrtain return as per varoius other bottomless pist we have seen over past 20 years when state goivernments have handed over public infrastructure projects to build AND run with what transpired to have huge costly guarantees built in.

and knee jerk neocon pavlov belief that private everything is a desireable objective really have no understanding of long term crucial strategic value of fundamental national infrastructure. and once sold off, can never really put the genie back in te bottle, and, it won't be too long before we see teh catostrophic results of those short-term ill-advised idelogical decisions